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Prompt the Agent to Plan First

The agent can build things fast, but it builds what you ask for — so if your first prompt is “build me a dashboard,” it’ll start building immediately. A better approach is to prompt the agent to plan first, so you can align on what gets built before any code is written. This matters most when you’re:
  • Starting a new project from scratch
  • Adding a major feature with multiple parts
  • Working on something you haven’t fully figured out yet

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How to Plan with the Agent

Tell the agent what you want to build and explicitly ask it to plan before building. The key phrase is: “Don’t build anything yet.” Here are some examples:
  • “I want to add a booking system to my site. Plan out the full feature — what pages I need, how the user flow should work, and what components to build. Write it all down before you start coding.”
  • “I’m building a dashboard with user analytics. Break down the structure, list the sections, and outline what data each section shows. Don’t build anything yet.”
  • “Plan a checkout flow for my store. Think through each step the user goes through, what happens on each page, and how errors should be handled.”
The more context you give — your goals, preferences, pages you already have, features you want — the better the plan will be.

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Use the Principal Agent for Planning

The Principal agent tier is best for planning. It’s the most capable agent, so it’s ideal for thinking through complex ideas, asking the right questions, and writing a detailed plan. Once the plan is ready, you can switch to Junior or Senior to actually build it. This way you get top-quality thinking upfront without spending Principal-level credits on the entire build.

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Walk Through the Plan Together

Don’t just read the plan and say “go.” Treat it like a conversation:
  1. Start broad. Tell the agent the big picture — “I want an online store” or “I need a portfolio site with a blog.”
  2. Let the agent break it down. It will outline the pages, components, and flow.
  3. Correct what doesn’t match. If the agent suggests a three-step checkout but you want a single-page checkout, say so now.
  4. Agree on the order. Decide what gets built first. Usually it makes sense to go page by page or feature by feature.
Changing a plan is free. Changing built work costs credits.

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Tips

  • Say “write the plan down.” Be explicit about this. When the plan is written in the conversation, the agent can reference it while building — and so can you.
  • Don’t worry about technical terms. Describe things the way you’d explain them to a friend. The agent will translate your ideas into a buildable plan.
  • Review before building. Read through the plan carefully. If something doesn’t match what you had in mind, correct it now — it’s much easier to fix a plan than to redo built work.
  • Plan in pieces for big projects. If your project has multiple major parts, plan and build one part at a time. Planning everything at once can lead to a plan that’s too long for the agent to follow precisely.